How Host2Coast Saves $120k Annually with Topkey

Host2Coast Vacation Rentals has built its reputation on Southern hospitality and exceptional attention to detail. As a locally owned company serving Hilton Head Island, they manage 250+ premium vacation rentals—from oceanfront retreats in Sea Pines Resort to pet-friendly homes in Shipyard Plantation.

With 24/7 availability, curated gift bags, and meticulous property care, Host2Coast creates vacation experiences as unique as Hilton Head itself. But delivering this level of service across a growing portfolio required financial operations that matched their commitment to quality.

Like many growing property management companies, they faced a critical decision: continue scaling manual processes with additional headcount, or find a technology solution that could eliminate the bottlenecks entirely.

The Challenge: When Manual Processes Cost More Than They Save

"Before Topkey, Host2Coast's financial operations relied heavily on manual processes. Despite a significant investment in staffing and time, revenue was still leaking through the cracks."

Core problems:

• $10-25k monthly in missed billbacks — at least 30% of owner expenses were never recovered
• 50+ extra hours of work per week due to manual data entry across multiple systems — Track, QuickBooks, Amex, TD Bank all required separate handling and physical receipt collection — accountant going to field staff in person

“Just looking at the numbers, they were like, this doesn't make sense," Charles recalls.

The Revenue Leakage Problem

They were billing $30,000 to $50,000 monthly to property owners for maintenance and repairs. But Charles estimates they were losing at least 30% due to missed transactions—translating to $10,000 to $25,000 monthly, or $120,000 to $180,000 annually.

For a company that ensures fresh-cut flowers for every guest arrival, losing six figures annually to missed billbacks was unacceptable.

"So many transactions, so many things that people were just forgetting," Charles explains. "With Topkey, there's little to no revenue leakage now because everything is showing up, and I can see what I have and have not categorized or posted to an owner's statement."

The Team Impact

For Host2Coast's eight field staff managing maintenance and operations, the manual system created an unnecessary burden. Physical receipts, handwritten work order numbers, stacks waiting to be scanned.

“It's hard to hold on to a physical receipt, and then of course the accountant will expect that and not be happy when it's not there" Charles explains.

Management recognized that paying a full-time salary for manual data entry and receipt tracking didn't make financial sense—especially as they planned to continue growing.

The Solution: Betting on Technology Over Headcount

Host2Coast made a bold decision: restructure their financial operations around Topkey, and bring in Charles part-time to run it — with an outsourced accountant handling high-level work.

The Pitch That Sealed the Deal

When Host2Coast met with Topkey, the value was immediately clear.

"We listened to them, and they hit all the points," Charles remembers. "We were sold by the end of that meeting. It was just a done deal."

What stood out was how Topkey understood Track workflows. The integration was designed for property managers, not adapted from generic business tools.

Seamless Implementation

Implementation proved easy. No new corporate cards, no PMS migration, minimal training. "The properties we already had in Track were uploaded into Topkey” Charles explains. The platform was intuitive: "I came in and just was able to click around and learn things. It all just makes sense."

How It Works: Three Workflows That Changed Everything

Charles manages 25+ transactions daily—more than 175 transactions weekly—all while working 20 hours per week remotely from 100+ miles away. This is only possible because Topkey automated workflows that previously consumed hours of manual effort.

The Transformed Field Experience

Field staff receive a text after each transaction asking: "Which property?" They reply with the property name. Transaction automatically categorized, tagged for owner billing, receipt attached to the correct work order.

"Everyone's happy to put in a quick memo," Charles notes.

1. AI-Powered Bill Pay

Host2Coast processes approximately 50 vendor invoices weekly. Before Topkey, this required logging into QuickBooks and manually typing vendor names, amounts, dates, invoice numbers, categories, descriptions—multiple screens per payment.

Now, vendors email invoices to a dedicated Topkey address. The AI extracts all information automatically.

"The AI fills out all the information for me... It's basically perfect. Gets the vendor correct every time, gets the description correct, gets the amount right," Charles explains.

The AI learns category preferences over time. "It's learned so quickly. I can talk directly to it, or it kind of just learns on its own when I change a category."

Charles reviews, selects payment account, approves ACH. What took multiple minutes now takes seconds.

Time saved: 5+ minutes per invoice × 50 weekly = 250+ minutes per week

2. Owner Billback Automation

Before Topkey, creating work orders for owner billing required manually entering every expense into Track—property, category, description, amount. With 200 billable transactions monthly at 5-10 minutes each, this was enormous.

Now, Charles filters Topkey transactions by "bill to owner." Each has a one-click "Create Work Order" button.

"Shows you what it's going to show up as—the description, the property, the amount," Charles explains. He clicks create, verifies in Track via hyperlink, processes. The expense appears on that month's owner statement.

Seconds instead of minutes, with seamless data flow between systems.

Time saved: 5-10 minutes per transaction × 200 monthly = 20+ hours monthly

3. QuickBooks Integration

Host2Coast's outsourced accountant receives complete, categorized transaction data without manual exports or reconciliation.

Charles syncs 20-30 transactions to QuickBooks every day or two. "Stay on top of it... it's only like 20 transactions and you just sit there for a minute and it syncs them."

Time saved: An estimated 125 minutes daily on categorization that previously required email follow-ups.

Total: 50+ Hours Monthly

"I've gotten so used to it now," Charles reflects, "it's painful to do it any other way."

The Results: Complete Transformation

Financial Impact

$70-80K annual salary eliminated. Financial operations restructured. The hours once consumed by manual processes are now handled by smarter systems — at significantly lower cost."

$120-180K recovered annually. Revenue leakage virtually eliminated. Charles's conservative estimate: minimum $10,000 monthly recovery.

"With Topkey, there's little to no revenue leakage now because everything is showing up, and I can see what I have and have not categorized or posted to an owner's statement."

50+ hours saved monthly. More than a full-time position eliminated through automation.

Operational Impact

25% growth with zero additional headcount. Scaled from 200 to 250 properties in one year.

"That's a huge increase, and I can hardly feel it because of how easy Topkey makes things. My day-to-day basically stays the same."

Remote operations enabled. Charles works 20 hours weekly from 100+ miles away. No physical presence required.

Complete visibility. Nothing slips through the cracks.

“I know that I'm not going to miss anything... nothing's going to slip through the cracks."

Owner Relations Impact

Statements are cleaner and more timely. All expenses from a given month appear on that month's statement—versus delays with transactions scattered across periods.

"All these invoices are from December on their December statement," Charles notes.

This builds owner trust and aligns with Host2Coast's brand promise of meticulous attention to detail.

"It reflects well on us... we're organized... nothing's going to slip through the cracks."

Team Impact

Eight field staff no longer burden themselves with physical receipts or face follow-up questions weeks later.

“Everyone's happy to come in here and put a quick little memo or whatever."

When Charles needs a detail, staff respond quickly via phone. Expense reporting transformed from something avoided into something handled in real-time—because it's easier.

The Turning Point

"What should be a 40-hour work week I can do in 15 to 20 hours—and we're more organized than when we had a full-time in-house accountant."

When the team added 50 properties in a single year, the expectation was clear: more properties meant more work. It didn't play out that way.

"That's a huge increase, and I can hardly feel it because of how easy Topkey makes things. My day-to-day stays the same."

Instead of hiring to keep up with growth, Host2Coast let Topkey absorb it. The manual, time-consuming tasks that once consumed their financial operations? Handled. Today, their financial operations run more efficiently at a fraction of the cost.

“Topkey is far more organized than even having an in-person accountant that's working 24-7," Charles explains. "We're more organized and have more of a convenience for less of a cost."

Growth in property management doesn't announce itself — it arrives fast and demands you're ready. Host2Coast built financial operations that don't just keep up with scale, they make it feel effortless.

Why This Works: Built for Property Management

1. Purpose-Built for STR Complexity

Generic business tools require workarounds. Topkey is purpose-built for vacation rental financial operations.

The Track integration exemplifies this. "Everything is basically always perfect there... seamless with the fact that those work orders show up the way that they do," Charles explains.

When Host2Coast adds a property in Track, "there it is in Topkey." No manual setup, no imports, no configuration.

2. AI That Actually Learns

The bill pay AI gets vendor information right every time. It learns category preferences automatically. Natural language filtering lets Charles describe what he wants instead of clicking through options.

"I'm able to just describe how I want to filter it and it just does it."

For Amazon purchases, receipts are captured automatically. "All the Amazon transactions, they're never missing a receipt."

3. Support That Feels Like Partnership

Monthly check-ins create a consistent feedback loop. "I can make a few notes throughout the month, then discuss with the Topkey team every month. Perfect timeframe."

"You're not just getting the product, but the consulting," Charles emphasizes. "There's a lot of good minds over there. It's only getting better, and it feels good to be on the Topkey team."

The New Model: Better Systems, Smarter Operations

Host2Coast's transformation reflects a shift happening across property management — the most efficient companies aren't necessarily the ones with the most staff, they're the ones with the best infrastructure.

Old approach: Growth means more complexity, more hiring, more overhead.

Topkey approach: The right platform handles the complexity, so your team can focus on what matters.

The Proof

The hours once buried in manual reconciliation, chasing transactions, and correcting errors are now spent on higher-value work. Revenue leakage eliminated. Owner statements more accurate and timely. A team that's less reactive and more strategic.

“You're probably losing in revenue leakage, probably at least a hundred percent of what you would be paying Topkey.”

The Scalability Factor

Adding 50 properties didn't add 50 properties worth of work.

"I can hardly feel it because of how easy Topkey makes things."

Sustainable growth means adding revenue without adding operational chaos — and having a platform your whole team can rely on.

"Everything you could want as a bookkeeper... it's everything I need."

Charles's Advice to Other Property Managers

"My immediate advice would be to change how you're doing things. My recommendation is Topkey because I know how great it is."

Why specifically?

"You're getting bang for your buck. I've seen how organized it makes everything, how much time it saves, how seamless the integrations are. There's not much of a barrier to join. And you're not just getting the product, but the consulting."

The bottom line: "Topkey has been a lifesaver. It's changed how you operate, your lifestyle... it's changed everything."

Looking Forward: Sustainable Growth at Scale

Host2Coast continues growing their premium Hilton Head portfolio without planning to add financial headcount. The infrastructure supports that growth, it's continuing to operate the system Charles has mastered.

The same attention to detail ensuring fresh-cut flowers for every guest now extends to financial operations. Every expense tracked, every statement accurate, every transaction visible—all managed in a fraction of the time with a fraction of the headcount.

That's the power of betting on technology over headcount, choosing purpose-built tools over generic solutions, and partnering with platforms that understand property management's unique challenges.

Losing revenue to missed billbacks? Hiring another employee to keep up with finances?

Growth shouldn't mean more complexity or labor. Host2Coast recovered $120-180K annually and scaled 25% — with leaner, smarter financial operations. Schedule a demo to see how Topkey can do the same for you.